Operation Hostage Rescue
Operation Hostage Rescue is the first mission in Tom Clancy's The Sum of all Fears. Briefing FBI Control - Heads up, everyone. Sorry to pull you out of your New Year's celebrations, but we've got a touchy situation out in West Virginia, and the local boys need our help. At approximately 19:00 hours this evening, a militia group known as the Mountain Men stormed a television station in Charleston, taking the station personnel hostage. Most of the hostages have been released, but they kept a few as insurance. Now the group is broadcasting live from the news studio and threatening to kill the hostages if their demands are not met. One of the hostages they released says that he saw the Mountain Men fiddling with the station's security system. Our best guess is they've re-programmed it to alert them if any attempt is made to breach the building. However, we've been in touch with the security company that owns the system, and they've given us the master access codes that will get us in without tipping our hand. Gold team, you're on point for this one. Get into the station, disarm the security system from the lobby control panel, then head up to the roof to disconnect the broadcast feed. Once you've taken them off the air, put the militia down and bring the hostages out. Blue team and Red team will back you up. Be careful. If any of the hostages are killed, especially on a live broadcast, we're going to catch hell for it. Let's show the world what the HRT can do. Mission objectives: 1. Disarm the security system Your first task is to disarm the security system so you can get onto the roof without setting off any alarms. The security controls are located at the reception station in the first floor lobby. You can shut off the system there. 2. Cut the satellite feed The standoff in Studio A is being broadcast live by antenna and satellite. It is imperative that you cut this feed before attempting to take down the militia members in the studio; otherwise, the firefight is going out live on television, and we don't want that to happen. To cut the feed, exit onto the roof from the third floor; there is a junction box there where you can cut the cable without disrupting the internal feed, so the militia members won't know that they've been taken off the air. 3. Rescue the hostages The station's two news anchors are being held in Studio A. You should approach the studio from the third floor control room that overlooks it. Your support teams will move in from the second floor and the catwalk to give you support. If either of the hostages are killed, or if there's a firefight before the live feed is cut, the mission will be considered a failure. FBI Intelligence Field Operations Report December 30, 2001 Prepared by Perry Marlowe The group calling itself "The Mountain Men" was founded in 1986 in West Virginia, and it's existed in some form in the state ever since. A right-wing militia organization with strong racist tendencies, the group has been involved with several shoot-outs with West Virginia state police, and have been implicated in connection with a series of armed robberies throughout the state. The group's central belief is that the American government has become decadent and depraved, catering exclusively to special interest groups and willing to sell out its citizens in a heartbeat to any corporation or foreign power with ready cash. In response, the militia's members have done their best to be independent of the government; paying no taxes, stockpiling arms and protecting their property as sovereign territory. While both the FBI and the ATF have been dogging their trial for years - their fingerprints are all over several illegal arms deals, in addition to the other incidents - this is the first time they've been known to take hostages. Our analysts feel that the trigger for this escalation was the recent arrest of the group's leader, Jeremiah Tanner, on tax evasion charges. Tanner's sitting in federal prison without bail, and the first round of demands broadcast from the television station includes a call for his immediate release. Walkthrough NEWSWIRE CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA (The Mungle Times) - The FBI rang in the New Year in exciting fashion, as members of its elite Hostage Rescue Team stormed a television station to rescue hostages taken by a local militia group. None of the hostages were harmed, and all were home to celebrate the holiday with their families. At roughly 7 o'clock P.M., members of a militia group calling itself the Mountain Men seized control of the station building, herding the staff onto a sound stage and broadcasting their demands live. It is believed that the recent arrest of the group's leader on tax evasion charges was impetus for the hostage situation. The live television feed was cut early in the rescue attempt, but station spokesman Maxwell Heatherton reports that there were no civilian casualties, and that all militia members in the building had been either killed or taken into custody by the HRT. Category:Missions